August 2018 will be the fifth anniversary of Shorelight’s first partner, Bath Spa University in the UK, being announced with suggestions that the university would ‘see its overseas intake swell to around 2,000 students over the next four years.’. The four years would run from 2015/16 to 2018/19.
It seemed a good moment to look at the pathway market and what happens when relationships don’t work out. This is partly because we may be entering a period where the pathway sector has matured and circumstances make it ripe for realignment. The stakes are high on all sides and the factors are particularly relevant to the UK and US where growth in pathways has been rapid and international student recruitment has been under substantial pressure.
As finances tighten university management is under more scrutiny and is likely to demand more in terms of targets and delivery from partners. The consequences of a failing pathway are becoming increasingly difficult to hide as direct recruitment gets harder. Providers have their own problems with unprecedented global pressures and ubiquitous competition. Some may be reaching a point where optimising their portfolio is more important than simply adding or maintaining capacity.
In the UK a number of institutions have been following the University of Sheffield to see how the switch from one major private provider to another might work. Loyalties are under pressure as university leaders who signed the deal move on and some pathway providers look to change hands after the glut of private equity investment from 2010 to 2014. Pressure to perform has never been greater.
So, when a pathway becomes a dead-end there is every incentive for one or other party to make a U-turn. Or, as Warren Buffett is quoted as saying, “Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be a more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.” And it doesn’t really matter if it’s a long-term contract (where remedies for under-performance are usually written in) or time for a tender after five years.
IT HASN’T ALWAYS ENDED WELL IN THE PAST
There is, of course, precedent and although closures can be hard to trace I have listed below those that I have uncovered in my research. New partnerships are usually heralded with a fanfare and people smiling as they shake hands on a deal done. Unsurprisingly, a veil is drawn over partnerships that end and those that are public are usually dressed in anodyne media responses.
For both universities and providers that is unfortunate. Considering and addressing failure is a good way of learning and often more informative than the bright, shiny case studies which are so popular as sales tools. In my time with two leading universities with private providers and as COO and CEO with two providers I saw many factors that can make or break a partnership. These are worth sharing.
I make no comment on the reasons for the ending of the relationships noted (but have referenced reports where available). Neither do I claim that this list is exhaustive and I would be interested in any other examples. For organisations contemplating partnerships an open and honest discussion with those who have tried and moved on is probably worth as much as hours of expensive contract development.
Study Group
i) Stirling University (Opened 2007- Closed 2013) Source: QAA
INTO
i) University of East Anglia London (2010-2014) Source: THE) ii) University of Stirling London (Opened 2014 – Closed 2015?) iii) St George’s University (Opened 2012 – closed 2017 Source: St George’s University Annual Report
Oxford International
i) Canterbury Christchurch (Opened 2015 – closed 2017?)
Kaplan
i) University of Utah (Opened 2010 – Closed?) ii)University of Sheffield (Opened 2006 – Closed 2015)
Navitas
i) Western Kentucky University (Opened 2010 – Closed 2016)
ii) Edinburgh Napier (Opened 2011 – due to close 2018)
PRIVATE PATHWAYS MAY NOT BE ACCESSIBLE OR GUARANTEE SUCCESS
UK universities with the greatest decline in overall international enrolments in the past five years often have no pathway partner or are relatively late to the party. Several of the non-aligned universities here have been actively seeking providers but there is, inevitably, caution from providers about taking on institutions that do not have underlying strength.
It remains to be seen whether some of the new partnerships can materially alter the trajectory of underperforming universities. Sector sources suggest that Oxford International and the University of Bedfordshire are parting company and the provider is not currently listing this university on its website.
Table 1 – UK Universities With Greatest Decline In International Enrolments 2012/13 to 2016/17
Source: HESA (enrolments), QAA and University/Company websites
And that brings me full circle to Bath Spa and Shorelight. HESA data (supported by the University’s Annual Report narrative) showed strong growth in international recruitment from 2012/13 to 2014/15. In the first full year of the partnership with Shorelight (2015/16) there was a weakening of growth which was followed by declining international enrolments in 2016/17. There is some way to go for the university to reach the anticipated 2,000 by 2018/19.
Table 2 – Bath Spa University International Enrolments 2012-13 to 2016/17
Source: HESA
Perhaps more troubling is that in December 2017 the THE reported that ‘figures available on (sic) Companies House show that Bath Spa Global – an international pathway college venture set up in 2014 in partnership with US firm Shorelight Education – has lost about £1.4 million in the three years to July 2016, while its parent company Bath Spa U has lost about £736,000 over the same period.’. The 2016/17 Financial Statement from Bath Spa showed international student income and numbers declining year on year and noted that the joint venture partnership, Bath Spa Global, ‘remains fragile’. At the time of writing I can find no mention of Bath Spa University on Shorelight’s web-site and no current reference to Shorelight on the University’s site.